A Recount of Transmutations – SEPTEMBER MMXVI entry

Different people listen to music , watch movies or look at paintings with different attitudes, perceiving different things based on a variety of conditions and outlooks. Some specialize in or are drawn towards one more than the others, and approach the message codified therein either through sentiment or technical study, and in some rare cases, using both in a unified method. This is usually termed an appreciation of art, and most people who consider themselves serious in such an endeavour see each distinct art form as a separate medium. Each of them expresses human concerns over situations in what is believed to be fantastic depictions that seek to relieve one from the burden of reality by escapism or a direct confrontation of the crisis-causing affair. This is the overruling view upheld by the school of thought that confuses its materialism and underhand cynicism for “rationalism”.

The esoterist extends the previous approach to everything he can and may perceive, not only works of art. And rather than limiting his interpretation to a consequence of homo sapien’s “imperfections”, chooses to follow the path deeper and further by taking perceptions as flashes of cosmic truths through the filter of our senses. In doing so, the aforementioned limitations of our species are not ignored or overlooked, and instead, there is a conscious choice of looking at the proverbial glass as half-full. This is simply the choosing of the path that maximizes the raw power latent in sensations and the mind over the self-pity of those mentally tormented by what they cannot comprehend. It consists of hurling oneself onto the arms of the mystery, leaving behind the fear that makes hearts cling to the thin thread of what they can know for certain.

“knowing almost everything about almost nothing”

The intention of the writer is to bear testimony to the transmuting effect transcendental works of the ars musica can have over the soul. That said influence cannot have taken place over a period of time long enough to perform radical changes in the psyche is something the author is willing to admit as a possibility given the incontestably recent publication dates of the works in question. What he will not yield, however, is his knowledge of the inner transformations to which these works have been incontrovertible, though perhaps not indispensable, accessories, no matter how limiting the reader deems the relatively short exposition period to be for possible developments.

These were holistic works of art of the highest order, and no manner of reduction was here possible without entirely losing sight of their identity.

None of these works belonged, at the time of their initial reception, to the sphere of styles at the very center of the author’s heart. And so, there was little emotional enticing in the way of an outright hook, and instead, it was the perceived mystery of musics which appeared to contain much more than was at first apparent which lured him in. It was, in a most confusing manner, at once obvious and elusive. Technical analysis revealed much, indeed, and yet too little. For where in most cases a detailed and sensitive application of theory that gives aural effects in context their due in a station of great import may tell us what is incumbent upon us to know in order to contemplate them as they are, the works under discussion eluded all such attempts and little information came from them that accounted for anything reasonably.

These were holistic works of art of the highest order, and no manner of reduction was here possible without entirely losing sight of their identity. The only possible answer, then, seemed to be to open the doors of intuition ajar, allowing the senses to be flooded and the imagination run amok, so that the music itself would take one wherever it would. As this is a testament to their influence over the author, the reader is advised to take all remarks regarding these works with a pinch of salt, understanding that while the comment bears a strong relation to its object, much of it may be the unique growth in the writer’s mind of a seed planted by the artist.

Cóndor’s NadiaYear: 2013

In Nadia we find a melancholic romanticist aura uniting with the decisive purposefulness of the classic heavy metal riff applied through death metal technique. It unites the European day-dreaming of the 19th century with the rugged realism that the American colonizer faced decades after the independence still. Cóndor shows us one possible take on the Latin-American foundation story in which some may see themselves as heirs to Conquistadors and early European settlers.

The music is a slow enchantment, the picture is dark yet hopeful, the author’s personal experience with the work is one of slowly falling in love, and doing so time and again in different ways when the music is caught again in a different angle. Nadia is a tale of will cutting across desperation and confusion as an immense and unknown land is braved. A wondrous and strange land in which the initial search for glory turns to inner search and the eventual definition of a different weltanschauung, as a foreign race and its original culture react with a new land and conditions to give birth to a new people: the grandchildren of Latin Europe.

The intent of Cóndor’s Nadia is to recognize in European heritage transformed by the vicissitudesof America the real ethnic foundation for modern Latin-American individuals of predominantly Iberian ethnic origin.

What this unexpected Colombian masterpiece transmits is a sensing of the concrete possibility of achieving group identity as Latin-Americans with a certain ethnic background. The importance of this message may be easily brushed aside given a predominant anti-colonial and nationalist1 indoctrination, which in unintended conflation with the subreptitious concepts of Cultural Marxism, leaves room only for extreme individualism and condemns one to entrapment within the animalistic cycle of survival and pleasure2. We are taught we are “Latinamericans”3, as opposed to the Spaniards who butchered “us, innocent and pacifist peoples of America”. It is easily ignored that many of us have more in common, by way of cultural and ethnic inheritance, with said conquerors than with most long-dead, or in the process of dying, aboriginal groups.

The intention is not to belittle the true American aboriginal groups that survive, and it is the belief of the writer that these have an ordained right (that is, not a legal right, but an inherent volition to be heeded) to self-sufficiency and actual free will. It is, however, important to distinguish that multiculturalism is by no means a true identity, and that group identity is an important element for beings deeply rooted in social behavior, such as humans undoubtedly are. So, while colonialism and imperialism are to blame for the resulting mess, each pocket should be quick to recognize its origin and nature as resulting from region-specific situations.

The realist who seeks answers to questions of origin in natural roots and our relation to the universe will understand that no manner of superficial social engineering can sever ages-old spiritual and genetic ties.

The present work is by and for those Latin-Americans that are precisely what the etymology of the compound term implies: Latin blood on American soil. Where Latin refers to the European countries who speak languages directly descended from that of the Romans, and American refers to the true meaning of the word indicating the whole of the American continent. The intent of Cóndor’s Nadia is not to tout those who fit the bill as Europeans, but to recognize in European heritage transformed by the vicissitudes of America the real ethnic foundation for modern Latin-American individuals of predominantly Iberian ethnic origin.

The answer to be found here is that countless ladinos who find no answer to the question of true belonging can look for one in their customs and traditions as they are, and not the folkloric fantasy concocted by post-independence oligarchs or the sorry remnants of leftist ideals. Until now, most of them wallow in inner spiritual decadence patched up by inadequate monotheism, or crying with arms wide open for Utopian socialism to summon God the proverbial protestant father incarnate in Big Brother government to blame for their problems and magically provide immediate solutions. The realist who seeks answers to questions of origin in natural roots and our relation to the universe will understand that no manner of superficial social engineering can sever ages-old spiritual and genetic ties.

1 “Nationalism” in its most materialist sense; that is, promoting allegiance to a government that does not seek the ultimate welfare of a people, and instead function as vampiric overlords of an alienated population. In a particular Central American country the ruling class is predominantly of Arab and Jewish origin, identifying as such while finding their official status as “Latinamericans” as incidental though heart-warming.2 The alternate is that which posits the divine and the transcendental as a center. This is a path in which life is lived for more than its own sake. The individual can then see himself as part of a whole and something greater than himself, thereby reaching out and achieving true fulfillment that is beyond any materialist conception.3 Which in formerly Anglo-Saxon America radically degenerates into an entirely fictitious (like most cultural and historical concepts at the center of their fancies) ethnic group called “Latinos”. To give the reader a hint of the degree of misrepresentation, an aboriginal tribe member from deep in the Amazon is as much a “Latino” as a pure descendant of African slaves born in Rio de Janeiro, or Italian immigrants born in Buenos Aires. In that sense, “Latinos” is even far more nonsensical than the self-appointed misnomer “Americans”, by which U.S. residents is meant.

Abyssum’s Cum Foeda Sanie Ex Ore

Year: 2014

The author’s personal, inner spiritual relation to the music of Abyssum specifically, and the work of Rex Ebvleb in general, is beyond any words which can be summoned up and impressed upon these characters. Useless will be any attempt to transmit the intense sensation of simultaneous challenge in dread and contradictory empowerment in experiencing a first-hand emotional perception of a vast multi-dimensional universe entirely out of control and conception by common simian beings. Only a few are privy to this great vision. The reason for this is that the core of it is an enigma at the base of humankind’s relation to the cosmos, which one either knows since birth, or one is completely unable to see even if told about it.

This is transcendental elitism in its purest sense.

Although acquaintance with Cum Foeda Sanie Ex Ore extends only one year and a half into the past, the contours of the obscure ideas it depicts in wave and word were at the heart of the author’s suspicions, buried under layers of suppression and indoctrination which took decades of inner upheaval to peel off. In hindsight, it must be realized that our crossing of paths with Abyssum when we did was not, nay, could not be, an incidental occurrence. The timing was too perfect, the coincidence of a necessity for a next hint and the matching teaching leading down the path towards herein found too fortuitous. As if answering the summons of my eager mind at a time when a sense of a new direction was utterly needed, not from confused helplessness, but from a natural intimation following a final sundering of chains.

A first encounter with Abyssum happened through its only publicly available work on the Internet, Thy Call. This was not a band I had been aware of for a long time which suddenly seemed to appeal to me. Rather, it contained puzzling pictures of obscure vastness and depth that did not match the author’s standards but defied any sort of direct rational attack. This elicited special and focused attention, which found more yet grasped little. It slowly became a source of healthy obsession, the kind that breathes new life into a seeking spirit battling through and against the mundane with no lighthouse or guiding star. The only way to portray a semblance of the impressions of my overwhelmed senses became at once a personal exploration and meditation, and a misplaced duty to sing of its glory to those who did not know about it.

For it can be discovered that Abyssum’s music is unique, both in realization and in nature, though only a direct witnesses to its manifestation can prove that to himself.

The author’s calls were repeatedly answered and an unexpected helping hand appeared, which not only provided invaluable advise but also yielded information which led to the creator behind the music. Responsive to worthy and responsive souls, the author would like to believe, a chance was was granted to delve into Cum Foeda Sanie Ex Ore. The total work of Abyssum brings forth a vision of the cosmos as a dark and morally-neutral place that is fascinating for worthy minds willing to brave its dangerous confines beyond the limits of the illusion of mortality and petty social constructs. This is transcendental elitism in its purest sense.

In this MMXIV edition of old compositions brought forth in new form, Abyssum is shown stronger than ever, ever evolving and heaving with a vibrant energy one usually sees only in the untamed genius of a few young projects. A brief yet necessarily incomplete description of the music could be given as subtle layers of keyboard melodies, supported by tremolo-picked torrents of simple root-note-carrying distorted guitars, and underscored by destructive drum patterns. If the author’s hand were forced to draw a musical comparison, he would, in this moment, say that Cum Foeda Sanie Ex Ore unites the technique of Emperor’s In the Nightside Eclipse with the progressive atmospheric buildup and overarching story-curve of Burzum’s Hvis Lyset Tar Oss. The comment would be useful, but entirely mistaken and misleading. For it can be discovered that Abyssum’s music is unique, both in realization and in nature, though only a direct witnesses to its manifestation can prove that to himself.

What makes Abyssum’s music difficult to handle for most people is that it allows for no middle ground and no half-measures, a full and holistic picture must be at least glimpsed, otherwise all is for naught, and this musica will pass by unnoticed as the dark shade it is. The answer to this is plain and simple, yet complex and beyond the grasp of most: this is not just music, it is the channeling of essences into sonic form. Let him who hath understanding reckon the truth of these words. Here lies not an argument for the changing of logical minds, but a recount of the existence of other worlds which can be seen through the eye of Darkness, a written testimony for other worthy and seeking spirits.